The UAE's league champions, Al Ain, face Al Ittihad, the Syrian league leaders, at 6pm today in the opener of the Al Jazira First International football championship, held under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the Club's Honourary Council.

The strength, popularity and excellent players in both teams indicate a strong opening to the tournament, which will be a good opportunity for all four participating teams to prepare for their challenges ahead or try new players.

Hosts Al Jazira and Egyptian team Arab Contractors are the other two teams and will face each other tomorrow at the same time and venue.

Al Ain have become a powerhouse in domestic football. They won the league and reached the semifinals of the Asian Champions League in which they won their first leg at home 4-2 against Dalian of China. Their return leg is postponed because of SARS epidemic.

Al Ain feature a number of outstanding local and foreign players including Waleed Salim, their custodian, Fahad Ali and his younger brother Abdullah, who both plays for the UAE.

Subait Khater and his brother Jumaa, Mohammed Omar, Sultan Rashid, Salim Jawhar, Humaid Fakher in addition to Cote D'Voire's players Boubakr Sanogo and Traore.

Al Ain will miss the efforts of Rami Yaslam, Ali Masri and Faisal Ali, who are with the UAE Olympic team.

Al Ittihad, from Alepo in the north of Syria, is one of the most successful clubs in their country. They feature a number of Syrian international players such as Ammar Raihawi, Abdul Fattah Al Agha, Ali Sheikh Deeb, Sharef Kurdiah and Ridhwan Al Abrash, the top-scorer in the Syrian league this season.

The team's coach, Hassan Al Shazali, from Egypt, surprised the club's management last week when he resigned from his post only for the club to appoint Mohammed Jumaa Al Rashid as a caretaker coach.

The team have arrived in Abu Dhabi on Friday and trained yesterday at the venue of the tournament to prepare for their opener.

Al Rashid expressed his pleasure to take part in the tournament. "We are pleased to take part in the tournament which will provide an excellent chance for us to gain experience as our team include a number of young players.

"The participating teams are all famous clubs and we hope that playing against such strong teams will help our team. It is not important who wins the title, but I am sure that all teams are capable of achieving that feat," Al Rashid said.

Al Ittihad will miss the services of their most famous player, Mohannad Al Boushi, the leading striker of the Syrian national team, who has a disagreement with his club regarding the captaincy, which was given to his colleague Ali Sheikh Deeb. Al Boushi was suspended by his club from coming to the UAE.

Meanwhile, Egyptian Arab Contractors will arrive today in Abu Dhabi. Their match against Al Jazira is expected to reveal new players for the hosts in addition to their Liberian captain, George Weah.

The club have invited a Brazilian midfielder and a Belgian striker to take part in the first match, while others are expected to wear the club's jersey in the next matches. Foreign players for each club are not limited according to the rules of the tournament.